Maximizing domain-wall speed via magnetic anisotropy adjustment in Pt/Co/Pt films

We report an experimental observation that indicates that a direct relation exists between the speed of the magnetic domain-wall (DW) motion and the magnitude of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in Pt/Co/Pt films. It is found that by changing the thicknesses of the nonmagnetic Pt layers, the PMA magnitude can be varied significantly and the field-driven DW speed can also be modified by a factor of up to 50 under the same magnetic field. Interestingly, the DW speed exhibits a clear scaling behavior with respect to the PMA magnitude. A theory based on the DW creep criticality successfully explains the observed scaling exponent between the DW speed and the PMA magnitude. The presented results offer a method of maximizing the DW speed in DW-mediated nanodevices without altering the thickness of the magnetic Co layer. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.